Rainbows suffer 'embarrassing' loss to Pacific

Tigers send 'Bows to second straight loss

Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso's plan was to use some players who had not seen much action this season in the nonconference game against the Pacific Tigers yesterday.

"Make no mistake, we play to win," Trapasso said.

"Even though this is a nonconference game, I'm hoping we have the pride and professionalism to play with a sense of urgency."

He wanted the reserves in the starting lineup to be fired up for the game.

Trapasso didn't get the effort he was looking for and put the blame squarely on his own shoulders after the Rainbows' 4-3 loss.

STOCKTON, Calif. » The Pacific Tigers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge the Hawaii Rainbows 4-3 in a nonconference baseball game yesterday.

Joe Oliveira's two-out single up the middle scored the winning run for the Tigers, who won for just the ninth time this season.

With a critical Western Athletic Conference series at Fresno State coming up this weekend, UH coach Mike Trapasso used several position players and relievers who had not seen much action this year in hopes of getting a little more passion out of his team.

"We haven't had a toughness and the ability to sustain it. I just can't get them to play that way. That's all I have to say about that. But, we will keep searching for it and keep pounding away."

The Rainbows (24-13) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Jon Hee singled to center and advanced to third on a one-out single to left-center field by Justin Frash. Hee scored on Kris Sanchez's two-out single to right.

Frash stopped at second on the play, but moved to third moments later on a wild pitch by Pacific starter Curtis Pasma.

Kevin Macdonald then hit a ground ball to third that Brett Manning fielded cleanly, but threw high to first for an error as Frash scored.

Trapasso had hoped to get two innings from starter Matt Daly. But after the sophomore right-hander needed 26 pitches to walk the bases full and strike out the side, he was done after the first inning.

Cameron Wheeler faced three batters in the second, but surrendered the tying runs in the third.

Oliveira and Zach Chamberlin doubled to start the inning for one run. Chamberlin took third on a single to right by Justin Baum and scored on Jason Haar's single to center, the fourth consecutive hit off Wheeler.

The Rainbows caught a break when Baum was tagged out trying to score on a bouncer back to the mound. Wheeler got out of the inning by getting the next two batters to hit into fielder's choice putouts at second.

After Hee's two-out double in the second, Pasma retired nine consecutive Rainbows. The streak was broken when pinch-hitter Jorge Franco doubled off the left-field wall with two down in the fifth.

Frash, who has struggled at the plate lately and was in the lineup as the designated hitter, lined a double down the left-field line to score Franco and give UH a 3-2 lead.

Although it was expected UOP coach Ed Sprague would use several pitchers for the nonconference encounter, Pasma threw 7 2/3 innings.

UH threatened to add a run in the eighth when Frash got his third hit, a single to left, to open the inning and was sacrificed to second by Brandon Haislet.

But, in a lefty vs. lefty matchup, Pasma fanned Sanchez, UH's leading run producer, on a 3-2 pitch.

Sprague then brought 6-foot-7 right-hander Casey Neimeyer in from the bullpen and he got Macdonald to ground out to end the inning.

Trapasso had gone to one of his top relievers, Jayson Kramer, to end the seventh after Jeff Soskin issued a two-out walk to Haar.

However, Kramer gave up a leadoff triple to Greg Murray on a 1-2 pitch to start the eighth. John Joines then walked, and Matt Fuson lined to short for the first out.